Matthew Nelson

A section of the 30-foot steel bollard wall stands next to a border marker near the Yaqui Ridge Trail.

A deal has been reached to settle several lawsuits against the Trump administration's actions on certain areas of the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

President Donald Trump illegally diverted military project funds to build some of the border wall in Arizona and elsewhere. The Sierra Club and the Southern Border Communities Coalition sued in 2019 and successfully argued the construction caused extensive damage and impacted threatened and endangered species.

The deal orders the Department of Homeland Security to create some breaches in the barrier to allow animal migration to resume. Some openings will be large enough for a human, but the areas will remain monitored. 

Fixing the damage will cost nearly $1.2 billion. Another almost $430 million will be refunded to the Department of Defense.